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Anatole France
Belle Grove Plantation, the birthplace of the 4th President of the United States, James Madison. And yet this is just one part of who Belle Grove Plantation is. This historic landmark has played so many roles in the history of America. It is the PRIME Mission of the James Madison Belle Grove Foundation to preserve, restore, improve, maintain and educate the public about Belle Grove and its amazing American history.
Please support James Madison Belle Grove Foundation today by donating and helping fund critical historic preservation and education projects. With support from caring individuals like you, the James Madison Belle Grove Foundation founded in 2015 can continue our mission.
Together, we all can preserve Belle Grove Plantation and its legacy.
There are many ways you can make a difference at Belle Grove Plantation through the James Madison Belle Grove Foundation. Please consider one of the following to help us preserve this National Landmark. All donated funds go to directly to the James Madison Belle Grove Foundation and its Prime Mission. All Board Officers and Members are volunteers and do not receive a salary.
Make an Online Donation to the James Madison Belle Grove Foundation Here
Give by sending a check or money order by mail.
James Madison Belle Grove Foundation
9221 Belle Grove Drive
King George, Virginia 22485
Please make checks payable to: James Madison Belle Grove Foundation
As you plan your annual giving, please consider adding the James Madison Belle Grove Foundation to charities you support each year.
Supporting The James Madison Belle Grove Foundation as a beneficiary of your estate planning is gift that will last generations. With your thoughtful planning, this gift will help continue our mission, while fulfilling your personal philanthropic objective. There are several ways you may support The James Madison Belle Grove Foundation through planned giving. You may giving by including the James Madison Belle Grove Foundation in you will or making the James Madison Belle Grove Foundation the beneficiary of your life insurance policies. Please consult your attorney for recommendations that will work best for you.
Before you sell your cryptocurrency and donate the after-tax proceeds, consider donating your cryptocurrency directly to the James Madison Belle Grove Foundation. There are two significant benefits, both for you and the foundation:
Your tax deduction will be equal to the fair market value of the donated cryptocurrency (as determined by a qualified appraisal).
Your gift to the James Madison Belle Grove Foundation will be larger because instead of paying capital gains taxes, the foundation will receive the full value of your contribution.
By donating your cryptocurrency, your gift to the foundation can ultimately providing greater charitable/philanthropic support.
Our Capital Fundraising Campaign
These funds will be used to continue the PRIME Mission.
Donations to the Spirits Festival
These funds will help us bring this amazing annual event to the community.
This Amazing Fundraiser was Amazing Teams racing from one Challenge Location to another completing challenges, collecting extra bonus points and having an Amazing Day for Wacky Fun! Before this Amazing Event, location businesses in King George, Caroline and Westmoreland County allowed us to place donation jars for one and half months. We also conducted an Amazing Bake Sale and Amazing Online Auction! After the dust settled an the teams tallied up their scores, trophies were awarded to the InFirst Incrediales – First Place, The Gut Crushers – Second Place and Sassy Supergals – Third Place. The Gut Crushers also took Most Raised and Best Dressed. The Most Raised Donation was Hornes Diner in Port Royal, Virginia and Team Favorite Challenge Stop was Mary’s Cakery and Candy Kitchen in King George, Virginia
With the donation jars, bake sale, online and mailed donations and the donations received during the race, the James Madison Belle Grove Foundation will be receiving $1,663.60. Last year’s total was $662.
Art – Wine – Beer – Distilled Spirits – Bands – Food Trucks – Specialty Vendors
We also kicked off our Ghost Tours at Belle Grove Plantation with tours of our historic mansion with special “spirit” guides (Coastal Virginia Paranormal) as they moved our guests through the mansion with stories of the haunts of Belle Grove Plantation. Photographic evidence, audio voices and more awaited those who brave this tour! After our Spirit Festival Event and Ghost Tours and with the added funds from our “Get Into the Spirit” Online Auction, the James Madison Belle Grove Foundation will receive $5,499.95! This was the first time for this event and we plan for this to become an annual event. Our Downton Abbey Casino Night saw our guests dressing in their best “Downton Abbey” or “1920s” style for an evening of food, music and fun. Roulette table, craps table and black jack tables were enjoyed by all with great food and winners of the raffle going home with great prizes! After a great evening of fun, the James Madison Belle Grove Foundation received $372.36. The James Madison Belle Grove Foundation hosted our Annual New Year’s Eve charity event – The New Year’s Eve Casino Masquerade Ball. Belle Grove Plantation’s Masquerade Ball is famous for its intriguing party guests and excitement during the evening as everybody will show off their most fabulous masquerade masks and New Year’s party attire! Roulette table, craps table and black jack tables were enjoyed by all with great food and winners of the raffle going home with great prizes! After a great evening of fun, the James Madison Belle Grove Foundation received $410.09. The Ladies of Belle Grove came together to host their first Ladies of Belle Grove Bazaar. Both craft vendors as well as direct sales vendor came together for a day of shopping at the plantation. The Ladies of Belle Grove set up a booth of their own with items donated from private individuals to help raise money for the foundation. A 50/50 Raffle was conducted and food and beverages were sold to add to the funds. After Ladies of Belle Grove 2017 Event, the James Madison Belle Grove Foundation received $1,600! Art – Wine – Beer – Distilled Spirits – Bands – Food Trucks – Specialty Vendors We celebrate the pleasures of the palate at the Spirits Festival at Belle Grove Plantation presented by the James Madison Belle Grove Foundation. Combining exclusive wines, craft beers and distilled spirits while featuring the talents of local and regional artists, live bands and culinary delights, made the Spirits Festival at Belle Grove Plantation a perfect blend of fall time on the banks of the Rappahannock River. This was our 2nd Annual Spirits Festival. We are already looking forward to 2018! In 2016, we had 36 vendors, 4 wineries, 2 distilleries, 1 brewery, 2 bands and 4 food trucks. We had around 500 attending from Washington DC, Baltimore and Maryland, Richmond and the surrounding areas. In 2017, we had 64 vendors, 6 wineries, 11 distilleries, the foundation sold beer, 2 bands and 6 food vendors. We had around 700 attending from Washington DC, Baltimore and Maryland, Richmond and the surrounding areas! After our Spirit Festival 2017 Event, the James Madison Belle Grove Foundation received $16,588! The Ladies of Belle Grove came together to host their second Ladies of Belle Grove Bazaar. Both craft vendors as well as direct sales vendor came together for a day of shopping at the plantation. The Ladies of Belle Grove set up a booth of their own with items donated from private individuals to help raise money for the foundation. A 50/50 Raffle was conducted and food and beverages were sold to add to the funds. After Ladies of Belle Grove 2018 Event, the James Madison Belle Grove Foundation received $6,065! We enjoyed an evening on our riverside bluff under the stars. The evening was a causal gathering with delicious foods, beverages from local wineries and distilleries and lots of great music. A silent auction was on hand for our guests to take home some treasures from their evening. Special Feature was a group reading with our resident psychic medium, JMarie. Through her insight, she has been able to contact loved ones with those who are now in spirit. After The Evening on The River Event, the James Madison Belle Grove Foundation received $4,888.89! Art – Wine – Beer – Distilled Spirits – Bands – Food Trucks – Specialty Vendors We celebrate the pleasures of the palate at the Spirits Festival at Belle Grove Plantation presented by the James Madison Belle Grove Foundation. Combining exclusive wines, craft beers and distilled spirits while featuring the talents of local and regional artists, live bands and culinary delights, made the Spirits Festival at Belle Grove Plantation a perfect blend of fall time on the banks of the Rappahannock River. This was our 3rd Annual Spirits Festival. Sadly, this year we were almost a complete wash out! The rain just kept coming. But we did have some die hard supporters who showed up for the time we could stay open. We had 292 attending from Washington DC, Baltimore and Maryland, Richmond and the surrounding areas. Because of the rain and lack of guests, our festival felt its first loss of $2,156.40. Art – Wine – Beer – Distilled Spirits – Bands – Food Trucks – Specialty Vendors We celebrate the pleasures of the palate at the Spirits Festival at Belle Grove Plantation presented by the James Madison Belle Grove Foundation. Combining exclusive wines, craft beers and distilled spirits while featuring the talents of local and regional artists, live bands and culinary delights, made the Spirits Festival at Belle Grove Plantation a perfect blend of fall time on the banks of the Rappahannock River. This was our 4th Annual Spirits Festival. We had 33 vendors, 5 wineries, 9 distilleries, 1 brewery, 1 bands and 3 food trucks. We had 485 attending from Washington DC, Baltimore and Maryland, Richmond and the surrounding areas. After expenses, the foundation made $9,462.34 Art – Wine – Beer – Distilled Spirits – Bands – Food Trucks – Specialty Vendors We celebrate the pleasures of the palate at the Spirits Festival at Belle Grove Plantation presented by the James Madison Belle Grove Foundation. Combining exclusive wines, craft beers and distilled spirits while featuring the talents of local and regional artists, live bands and culinary delights, made the Spirits Festival at Belle Grove Plantation a perfect blend of fall time on the banks of the Rappahannock River. This was our 5th Annual Spirits Festival. The year of the Pandemic, yet we were still able to have the festival! Thanks to the help of the health department, we provided our Covid Protocol to ensure everyone was safe. We are happy to report that as far as we know, no one got the virus at the festival. We had 38 vendors, 3 wineries, 2 distilleries, 1 Cock Vendor, 1 bands and 5 food trucks. We had around 520 attending from Washington DC, Baltimore and Maryland, Richmond and the surrounding areas. After expenses, the James Madison Belle Grove Foundation made $5,437.57 As an archaeologist I was very excited when Michelle Darnell initially approached me to help her with the identification of artifacts she had unearthed at Belle Grove Plantation. Partially because the property has seen thousands of years of human history and had the potential to produce a wide range of interesting material culture but also because it demonstrated to me a respect for the archaeological resources at Belle Grove that one does not always see at historic houses. I was immediately impressed with Michelle’s sense of stewardship for the property and careful consideration of every artifact brought to me, even fragments of sewer pipe! Collaboration with other institutions such as University of Mary Washington have ensured that responsible excavations have been conducted at this historic homestead with a goal towards identifying and preserving the past. The artifacts recovered from Belle Grove have served to aid in the historical interpretation of this culturally significant property and are on display throughout the house for visitors to enjoy and learn from. Great effort has also been taken on the plantation to preserve fragile but still standing historic structures dating to the earliest historic occupation of the site. I look forward to seeing the story of Belle Grove evolve as more is learned from the ample archaeological and historic resources present! I first met Michelle and Brett Darnell when they were getting ready to open Belle Grove Plantation. I told Michelle that I was very interested in history and would love to see the inside of the plantation. Once Michelle arrived, she arranged for my wife Anita and I to come out and take a tour. The main building was beautiful, but you could see that it still needed some work. The first project I was involved in was the removal of three trees. The largest tree being a 250-year-old Mulberry that had died and threatened the main building as it was a falling hazard. With my involvement in The Fredericksburg Woodworkers Guild, Michelle asked if I was able to find someone to take the wood and create something from it. I asked a mill owner of J.C.Enterprises if he would remove the cut pieces of the trees and mill the wood. He agreed and when the day came for removal he came with a huge flatbed trailer and other equipment and hauled it all away. We allowed the wood to cure for 2 years. I have begun making a table/cabinet with a fellow woodworking hobbyist, Dom DiBona. This was completed in 2015 and was donated back to Belle Grove Plantation. My wife and I spent a night at Belle Grove and it was very charming. Michelle and Brett make their guests feel at home. Over the many visits to Belle Grove Plantation I have always had the desire to be a part of the restoration of the outbuildings. I am glad to hear that this will be a project for 2016. I enjoy my times at Belle Grove and feel a real connection with all the history of the plantation. From the birth place of James Madison to its role in the Civil War, it’s hard to believe we stand amid such history. I consider Michelle and Brett good friends and hope to be involved with many more projects in the future. 
If you are passing through the Fredericksburg/Port Conway/King George area you owe it to yourself to visit the Plantation. Stay a night in the Bed and Breakfast or take one of the tours. You will not regret the decision!